United Airlines has traditionally been a “full service” airline – targeting the middle of the market. Recently, United rolled out two additional classes of service. For those willing to pay more, United’s Polaris business class product offers spacious seats, fancy meals, a fancy lounge, and more. See an ad for Polaris below. A few months later, United introduced Basic Economy – a lower price fare without reserved seats and no carry-on bags. Basic Economy helps United battle low-cost competitors like Frontier and Spirit, which have taken market share by offering no frills and low prices. United Airlines’ CEO Oscar Munoz [Continue Reading …]

About a year ago, B&G Foods bought the iconicGreen Giant brand of frozen vegetables from General Mills. As our chapter 2 “What’s Now?” post explained, the frozen vegetable category has been in decline for at least the last decade. B&G hopes to resurrect the brand and the category. The Green Giant ad below was typical of its promotion for much of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. This brandchannel article, “ #TheGiantAwakens: Social Campaign Teases New Jolly Green Giant ” (December 7, 2016) highlights a YouTube video and Instagram posts as part of a contemporary update to the Green Giant. Go to YouTube and search “Jolly Green Giant tv ads” and view one of [Continue Reading …]

Demographic data supports the notion that the rich keep getting richer; the top 1% of American households controlling more than 40% of the country’s wealth. That is up from less than 30% just 20 years ago. Luxury goods makers and service providers have responded to these changes. Many are segmenting the market and targeting the wealthiest “one percent” with exceptional quality and/or service. “ In an Age of Privilege, Not Everyone Is in the Same Boat, ” (New York Times, April 21, 2016) describes these trends and how it is playing out in the cruise business. Using concepts from chapter 4, name the generic market and product-market Norwegian Cruise Lines serves with [Continue Reading …]

Honey Maid brand just launched a new television ad (“This is wholesome”) that celebrates diversity and features a same-sex couple with their baby, an interracial couple holding hands on a walk with their kids, and an African-American father with three mixed race children. Is America ready for this? Is Honey Maid’s target market ready for this? We could debate the social ramifications here – but that is fodder for another blog. This blog focuses on marketing strategy. So let’s examine this as a business decision for Honey Maid — not a political statement. For some background, check out this article [Continue Reading …]

Maybe the most important concept in marketing is segmentation. And one of the simplest ways to segment a market is by gender. Hey just make a pink version and wa-la, you have a women’s version. Just because you should segment and gender segmentation is easy, doesn’t mean that every product needs a men’s and women’s version. Yes, it makes sense for clothing. But how about pens? Ear plugs? Tea, Energy drinks? This article on BuzzFeed “ 21 Pointlessly Gendered Products ” (January 24, 2014) provides some great examples you might find fun to show in class. What do you think of these gender-driven product differences? [Continue Reading …]

Don’t follow the crowd! All that competition isn’t the best way to make money. Instead, find a way to deliver unique value to a new market. GoldieBlox isn’t following the crowd — how many “construction toys” are there designed specifically for girls? Even LEGO Friends line is mainly a doll toy. GoldieBlox thinks that product-market exists, and that perhaps it can help solve a larger societal problem — the lack of women in engineering and the sciences. GoldieBlox needs to target moms (buyers) and girls (users) — and this ad does both. The general subject — lack of girls in [Continue Reading …]

Mattel’s Hot Wheels have a mom problem. Many toy purchases are made by mothers. Moreover mothers often (and more frequently than fathers) supervise their children’s playtime. But many moms don’t understand “car toys” like Hot Wheels. On the other hand, according to Mattel research, moms have a pretty good feel for action figures. I guess that Batman and Buzz Light Year action figures are a lot like the dolls most moms played with when they grew up. Consequently, moms are being blamed for three years of flat sales of Mattel’s big three car toy brands (Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Tyco [Continue Reading …]

We often call attention to the really funny ads. While this one has a little humor, I think it just works. OK, maybe the brand name (even if they spell it wrong) and my Kodak background play into my feelings. Anyway, this ad captures a passion for photography characteristic of the EOS Rebel T4i’s target market (people that will spend almost $1000 on a single lens reflex camera). It is inspiring.